A friend recommended a night in Sausalito because of the wonderful views and the small cozy town. I found Casa Madrona through a google search and the description of rooms, the balcony and the views sounded perfect. When I heard the price of the room $279/night, I thought it was a bit expensive but I figured it was a really nice hotel and would be worth it for just one night. I was so disappointed when we arrived - almost embarassed that I paid so much. My boyfriend would have killed me if he knew how much I agreed to pay. We did receive a room that had a balcony and windows that allowed a view of the bay - only if the big full tree wasn't in the way. My boyfriend and I walked in and he said it was almost as good as a Super 8 hotel. Some of the room attractions: The old TV was stuck in the corner of a built in shelf that didn't swivel and couldn't because of the size of the shelf. A "couch" was available under the TV against a wall but it was basically a wooden box that was covered with cheap carpeting (no cushioning at all). The decor of the bathroom and sink outside the bathroom were dated from the 70's. There were steps that surrounding the bed so you had to go up two steps to get into the bed. These steps were also covered by the same cheap carpeting that covered the "couch". Coming from a week at the San Francisco Marriott where I paid $169/night, this was so disappointing. I wanted to go back. Thank god the room was clean and the service was very friendly. This was their only saving grace. There were other rooms that looked like they had views so maybe I would have liked them better. However, I'm sure they were +$300. I will not be returning to this hotel.

It's a decent hotel in most respects. The view from the lower floors isn't as spectacular as the uphill cottages, but the rooms are nicer. It's a lot quieter on weekdays during the off season because downtown Sausalito closes up at 6:30.

About the theft:

The last time I stayed at the Casa Madrona, I was given a room where none of the hanging rods in the closet were more than a few feet off the ground. My clothes run long, so I had to hang them on the shower curtain rod and the bathrobe hook. At the end of my stay, I had to pack in a hurry, and accidentally left two dresses hanging on the bathrobe hook.

I discovered the loss less than two days later, and contacted the Casa Madrona. They said no such items were in Lost & Found, and told me to call back in a day or two. I did. My clothing still wasn't in Lost & Found. They said they'd phone me if anything turned up. They never phoned.

I'd been staying there for several days. The room had to have been cleaned and restocked before another guest could be moved in. There was no way the housekeeping staff could have missed seeing my clothing when they cleaned the room. I have to conclude that they kept my dresses instead of turning them in at Lost & Found.

One other odd thing: the daily room cleanup was very perfunctory, but I still I left tips out for the chambermaid because it's what you do. The tips were ignored for two days running. After that, I stopped trying. I have to say, I'd rather the chambermaid had kept my tips and not my dresses.

I may have to stay at Casa Madrona again in the future -- the company I work for has its headquarters nearby, and the other hotel in the area is frequently booked up -- but I'll never again feel comfortable about leaving my belongings unattended in my room.

My husband and I stayed at Casa Madrona on March 18th. I had originally booked a hotel in Tiburon, but the week before our trip, I decided to cancel it and I booked our room at Casa Madrona through TravelZoo because I had heard Sausalito was a nicer place to stay. Had I looked at the reviews on TripAdvisor like I normally would, I would NOT have booked this hotel. That would have been a HUGE MISTAKE. This hotel was by far the nicest hotel we stayed at on our vacation (we stayed at 6 different hotels on this trip, and most were fairly nice places), and likely the nicest hotel we have stayed at ever. It was a great all around experience for us. The only negative was that we only stayed there one night. My husband, who is extremely picky when it comes to hotels, wanted to know if we could just cancel our rooms in Napa and Sonoma and just drive back and forth and stay here for a longer period of time.

Anyhow, to my review...I am very, very confused as to the experiences that other recent guests had, as ours was nothing like that. It may be all about the room and we got a great one; although the service was also exceptional.

We were greeted upon arrival by the valet and a bellman. I left my husband with the car and went in to check in. The front desk person was so very nice, asked how my day was going and told me they had upgraded our room to one of the best rooms in the hotel (the Artist's Loft) which may be considering how we felt about the room. The bellman came in with my husband and took us up the elevator to our room. He opened the door for us and put all of our bags in the room and even asked if we would like him to fetch us some ice; which we declined (that is something we could do ourselves).

We were immediately shocked at how awesome the room was, what character and taste and personality. The balcony had a wonderful view (I have attached a picture), with two chairs facing out. We unfortunately did not get an opportunity to sit out there. The bed was huge; likely bigger than a normal King, with about 15 pillows on top, a wonderful blanket and super comfortable mattress. Best bed we had all trip too. The bathroom was beautiful with stone all around and a really nice shower. We did not have a tub, but wouldn't have used it anyhow. The fireplace had a log and matches ready to go, so my husband did make a fire, which was a nice touch. They had wine glasses to use instead of just your normal regular drinking glasses, which was just a nice little touch.

We did not try Poggio as I had made reservations at Scoma in Sausalito. Scoma had wonderful food; however the service was very slow; it took over an hour to just get our dinner to the table.

Upon check out, the valet brought the car around, asked if we needed any recommendations or had any questions. We asked about the directions to Napa that I had from MapQuest, he gave them back to me basically verbatim, so I knew he knew what he was talking about and then proceeded to go back inside the hotel to get us a wine country map and brochure.

As to the last review of it being haunted. They do run tours for that in the hotel that I saw listed on their website, which we did not take. I was a little creeped out by this idea of a haunted hotel, but to our knowledge, we did not experience anything out of the ordinary.

We did get a great deal on the room, but would have paid double if we could stay in that room again. We have already recommended it to one set of friends who are headed out there in May and will highly recommend it to others.

my wife and I called to get a discount price for our Anniversary. They gave us a very good rate, plus an upgrade for our special day.
Our room was on the 4th floor, room 546. I could hardly believe the value we got. The room was fabulous, with a hugh double tub, that my wife and I filled with body wash lotion the hotel gives for bubbles and we both took a hot bubble bath together . The bathroom also has a large glass incased shower with levelors that open to the bedroom so you can see inside or outside to the harbor. Two French doors opened onto a nice sized balcony with two reclined wood chairs and a spectacular view of the Harbor. The bed was a full king , with two nice sized Chairs and a scrolled type chair for full body relaxing and hasic. There is mini bar with refrigerator inside in the room, with some snack but that cost extra. We did not have a need for the snacks.
The room was clean and fresh. It has a TV concealed inside a pullout console, and a radio < CD player beside the bed. I went out onto the balcony late at night, around 3 AM . It was as quite as a mouse and the harbor was enchanting, with the moon light reflecting off the water and some small boats anchored out in the water with blue lights blinking randomly. I sat in the d chair and drank a glass of wine slowly thinking . What a memorable experience THAT was !
Totally private , no one distured us. The parking is $24 valet for a full day in and out as much as you like , they will bring the car to you at the front door.
All of this room was a mere $129 promotional rate. The usual rate for this room was listed with 12% hotel tax at around $300.
We went to a very nice restaurant in San Francisco, Cafe Sport, which I have been going to since the late sixties.l They still have the best Italian Pasta Con Pesto in the world perhaps, I have never found any restaurant of any class that compares to this place for this dish.
Well if your celebrating a romatic event, this is the time to jump on a promotional rate. Call in the day time and talk directly to the hotel reservation department;
Pogies restaurant is directly below on the ground level . We looked inside and it look quite nice, with some find dishes displayed on the tables, but we had our heart set on Cafe Sport on Green St,. in San Francisco this time.
OK, well thats my review.